Globetrotting boxing promoter Bob Arum, spanning the globe as his 79th birthday approaches, may come up with a unique October doubleheader in terms of meeting with “world leaders.”
Early in October, Arum will be part of a Jewish social group from Las Vegas which will tour Cuba, particularly Havana.
Who’s to say that that Arum, always fascinated by politics, won’t luck into a meeting or least a conversation with the island’s most famous fight fan, Fidel Castro.
They could discuss how Muhammad Ali, oft promoted by Arum, really would have done in a fight with Cuba’s great Olmypic hero, Teofilo Stevenson.
Or Arum could speak about President John F. Kennedy and/or Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (under whom lawyer Arum worked in the Justice Department) with the 84 year old Castro.
They could also chat about baseball, about how Arum loves the Yankees and how Fidel loved the lowly Washington Senatos, at least when Camilio Pascual was pitching.
I bet Uncle Bob would even pay for his own cigars for that sitdown. Maybe they could meet at the ramshackle bars made famous by American writer Ernest Hemingway.
What a photo opp, the legendary promoter and the man who led Cuba’s 1959 Revolution and unseated dictator Batista, rapping out over a Cuba Libre or a mojito.
“I have not been to Cuba since before Fidel took over,” Arum said Wednesday. “I think the trip will be sensational.”
After departing Havana, Arum will wing his way across the globe to Filpino strawberry capital, Baguio, to check in on another politician, also his biggest boxing client, Congressman Manny Pacquiao, as the boxer preps for a Nov. 13 bout at Cowboys Stadium against Antonio Margarito of Mexico.
You’ve got to admit it, Arum collects frequent flyer miles as often as I get villified on Inteent boxing boards.
I guess it may be said, we both deserve it.
